Introduction 



the medical journals a report upon three 

 hundred and thirty outbreaks of epidemic 

 diseases traced to milk; one hundred and 

 ninety-five of these were epidemics of ty- 

 phoid fever, in one hundred and forty-seven 

 of which the disease prevailed at the dairy 

 or farm; in sixty-seven, it was due to con- 

 tamination of well-water; in twenty-four, 

 employees at the farm were acting as 

 nurses, and in ten, they were working while 

 still sick. There were ninety-nine epi- 

 demics of scarlet fever, in sixty-eight of 

 which the source of infection was traced 

 to the illness of persons at the dairy; in 

 seventeen, the employees were themselves 

 suffering from scarlet fever, and in ten, they 

 were acting as nurses to scarlet fever pa- 

 tients. In other cases the mode of infection 

 was through the storage of milk near in- 

 fected rooms, or the poison was brought by 

 cans or bottles from patients' houses. There 

 were thirty-six epidemics of diphtheria, in 

 thirteen of which the disease existed at the 

 farm or dairy. When it is remembered that 



15 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



